Bronze for WAIS U23 Rowing Trio
Three WAIS rowers have featured in the men’s eight boat that won bronze at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Trakai, Lithuania over the weekend.
WAIS trio; Brendan Murray, David Watts and Matt Cochran all competed in the final, with Australia capturing bronze behind USA and Germany, one second ahead of Great Britain in fourth.
WAIS athletes Tom Meares and Tim Widdicombe were members of the Australian men’s lightweight four crew, that rowed in the A final for sixth position.
The gold medal went to Italy, with Spain and France rounding out the podium. The Australians competing out of lane two, finished in 6:30.66mins.
In the women’s lightweight pair, WAIS athlete Hannah Jansen missed out on the A Final, finish fourth in the B Final, with crews from Great Britain, Poland and France taking the top three positions and medals.
In other results from Trakai:
The Australia’s women’s quad scull led the way for the eight-boat Australian contingent with a breathtaking performance to win gold ahead of reigning world champions Germany.
Earlier in the regatta, the crew consisting of Rebekah Hooper (VIC), Madeleine Edmunds (QLD), Olympia Aldersey (SA) and Jessica Hall (QLD) had also set the world best time, and the final shaped up as a race between two crews.
Germany led Australia through 1000m, but an excellent third quarter of the race saw Australia take the lead by just a quarter of a second.
Australia was too strong for Germany over the closing stages of the race to win in a time of 6:56.33, almost 1.5 seconds clear of Germany, while New Zealand was a further five seconds adrift in third.
Both the Australian men’s four and women’s four produced excellent A Finals to win silver medals, while the men’s eight and men’s quad scull took home bronze in their respective finals.
The men’s four of Timothy Masters (VIC), Louis Snelson (NSW), Joshua Hicks (WA) and Owen Symington (VIC), selected from Australian athletes completing their studies at American universities, held second position for the whole 2000m to win silver in a time of 6:28.67, under three seconds behind Germany and half a length ahead of Great Britain.
The women’s four produced a stirring 500m to pass New Zealand and win the silver medal behind a strong Canadian crew.
Lucy Stephan (VIC), Katrina Bateman (VIC), Fiona Albert (QLD) and Charlotte Travers (QLD) were in third place at the 1500m mark, some three seconds adrift of New Zealand, but surged past their Tasman rivals to cross the line in 7:15.38.
On the final day of competition the men’s quad scull crew of Jay Ditmarsch (NSW), Ben Morley (QLD), Sasha Belonogoff (NSW) and Ryan Edwards (NSW) continued the momentum for Australia with a bronze medal behind the Ukraine and Italy.
In a fluctuating race Australia was fourth through 1000m, before improving to second with only 500m remaining, before settling for bronze in 6:01.00, just 0.13 of a second behind Italy.
– with Rowing Australia